Early Days of Medicine Hat By W.H. McKay, Calgary, Alta. ‘Several people have asked me to write a story of Medicine Hat, its early days and early residents. The following is my effort to comply with their request. I hope it will do for them to read until someone comes along who is better qualified […] Read more

History: Early Days of Medicine Hat
Reprinted from the September 1949 issue of Canadian Cattlemen

FCC to offer breaks on loans in Sask., Alta.
Customers of Farm Credit Canada in parched areas of Alberta and Saskatchewan may be able to get breaks on their outstanding loan payments. FCC on Monday announced it would work with affected customers on “solutions for their operation(s)” such as deferral of principal payments and/or otherwise amending their loan payment schedules. The offer applies to […] Read more

National hedging plan weighed for hog farmers
If there’s a way for a national-level hedging program to help Canadian hog farmers limit their exposure to hog price volatility, the national hog industry body aims to find it. The Canadian Pork Council on Friday announced it had picked up $169,530 in federal funding for a feasibility study on developing such a hedging program. […] Read more

Alberta’s alfalfa bug survey yields mixed results in first year
News Roundup from the June 2015 issue of Canadian Cattlemen
Year one of a three-year benchmark insect survey across Alberta yielded mostly good news and a few surprises, even for Alberta Agriculture entomologist Scott Meers of Brooks who is heading up the project. The biggest surprise was the sheer abundance of life in alfalfa fields. Sweep net samples of 100 sweeps each captured several thousand […] Read more
Agropur to shut Montreal-area milk plant
Quebec dairy co-operative Agropur plans to shut a Montreal-area fluid milk processing plant which it says has aged out of service. The company said Tuesday it will close its milk plant in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, which today employs 67 full-time and 27 “temporary” staff, by late May next year. “Considering the age and condition of the building […] Read more

CPSR wheat breeding program adopts ‘4-P’ model
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s breeding program for Canada Prairie Spring Red (CPSR) wheat in Alberta is picking up new investment partners. AAFC, Canterra Seeds and the Alberta Wheat Commission (AWC) on Wednesday announced they would jointly contribute $3.4 million over five years to Dr. Harpinder Randhawa’s CPSR breeding program at AAFC’s Lethbridge Research Centre. The […] Read more

BSE case’s traceout continues
Federal officials tracing out the herdmates of Canada’s 19th domestic case of BSE expect to have their final report on the case ready in late fall. Confirmed Feb. 11 as Canada’s first domestic case of the brain-wasting bovine disease since 2011, Case 19 was born in 2009 on the same northern Alberta farm as Case […] Read more

History: Killers to Respect
Reprinted from the September 1949 issue of Canadian Cattlemen
Killers to Respect J.H. Reid, Cardston, Alta. ‘No one could even approximate the number of reindeer, caribou, moose, buffalo, mountain sheep, elk and deer which have been destroyed by wolves in recent years in this enormous area, but the figures must be staggering. That the wolves are moving south is in itself some proof that the […] Read more

Canterra, Limagrain plan cereal breeding j.v.
Canada’s recent moves to tighten protections of plant breeders’ rights are getting the credit for encouraging a new private-sector joint venture in cereal seed development for the Prairie market. Canterra Seeds and French farmer co-operative Limagrain on Thursday announced they would further tie up their wheat variety commercialization work through a new joint seed breeding […] Read more

SW Ontario pullet flock’s ILT contained
A warning to southwestern Ontario’s poultry producers in May to step up biosecurity over a non-avian-flu-related disease outbreak has been lifted. The Feather Board Command Centre, the emergency response office for Ontario’s poultry and egg sector boards, last week issued a “stand down” for heightened biosecurity, following an outbreak of avian infectious laryngotracheitis (ILT) in […] Read more